// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Terror Island scary? Isle be afraid.

Terror Island
Terror Island
Directed by	James Cruze
Written by	Walter Woods (adaptation)
Story by	Arthur B. Reeve; John W. Grey;
Produced by	Jesse Lasky
Starring	Harry Houdini; Lila Lee
Cinematography	William Marshall
Production; company	Realart Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	April 1920;
Running time	5 reels; (originally 7 reels)
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

A 5-reel 1922 version of the film.

Terror Island is a 1920 American silent adventure film produced by Jesse Lasky and directed by James Cruze. It is a starring vehicle for illusionist Harry Houdini here costarring with Lila Lee.^[1] The film had the working title of Salvage.^[2]

Plot

Beverly West appeals to Harry Harper, the inventor of a submarine device for salvaging sunken vessels, to help her rescue her father from the South Sea natives who are holding him as a ransom for the skull shaped pearl that Beverly possesses. Also desirous of the pearl is Job Mourdant, Beverly's guardian, who kidnaps his ward and heads out to sea. Harry follows and saves Beverly when Mourdant throws her overboard.

After the two parties arrive on the island, Harry is captured but escapes in time to see the natives thrust Beverly into an iron safe and throw her into the sea. Once again, Harry saves the girl, and finally procures the gems after struggling with a man in a diving suit. Harry then so impresses the natives with his magic that they release Beverly and her father and the three set sail for home.

Cast

Harry Houdini as Harry Harper
Lila Lee as Beverly West, niece of Job Mordaunt
Jack Brammall as Ensign Tom Starkey
Wilton Taylor as Job Mordaunt
Eugene Pallette as Guy Mordaunt
Edward Brady as Captain Marsh
Frank Bonner as Chief Bakaida
Ted E. Duncan as First Officer Murphy
Fred Turner as Mr. West
Rosemary Theby as Sheila Mourdant, Guy Mordaunt's wife

Preservation

The AFI lists Terror Island's length as 7 reels,^[2] but only 5 reels appear to survive. The Library of Congress' American Silent Feature Film Database lists the film as incomplete.^[3]

References

↑ Progressive Silent Film List: Terror Island at silentera.com
1 2 "Terror Island". afi.com. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
↑ "American Silent Feature Film Database: Terror Island". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

External links

This article about a silent adventure film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

This article about a 1920s adventure film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

[1] Progressive Silent Film List: Terror Island at silentera.com

[afi-2] 1 2 "Terror Island". afi.com. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

[American_Silent_Feature_Film_Database-3] "American Silent Feature Film Database: Terror Island". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2026.

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[2]

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v t e Films directed by James Cruze
1910s	From Wash to Washington (1914) Too Many Millions (1918) The Dub (1919) Alias Mike Moran (1919) The Roaring Road (1919) You're Fired (1919) The Love Burglar (1919) The Valley of the Giants (1919) The Lottery Man (1919) Hawthorne of the U.S.A. (1919) An Adventure in Hearts (1919)
1920s	A Full House (1920) Terror Island (1920) Mrs. Temple's Telegram (1920) The Sins of St. Anthony (1920) What Happened to Jones (1920) Food for Scandal (1920) Always Audacious (1920) The Charm School (1921) The Dollar-a-Year Man (1921) Gasoline Gus (1921) Crazy to Marry (1921) One Glorious Day (1922) Is Matrimony a Failure? (1922) The Fast Freight (1922) The Dictator (1922) The Old Homestead (1922) Thirty Days (1922) The Covered Wagon (1923) Hollywood (1923) Ruggles of Red Gap (1923) To the Ladies (1923) Leap Year (1924) filmed 1921 The Fighting Coward (1924) The Enemy Sex (1924) Merton of the Movies (1924) The City That Never Sleeps (1924) The Garden of Weeds (1924) The Goose Hangs High (1925) Waking Up the Town (1925) Welcome Home (1925) Beggar on Horseback (1925) Marry Me (1925) The Pony Express (1925) Mannequin (1926) Old Ironsides (1926) The Waiter from the Ritz (1926) never completed or released We're All Gamblers (1927) The City Gone Wild (1927) On to Reno (1928) The Mating Call (1928) The Red Mark (1928) Excess Baggage (1928) The Duke Steps Out (1929) A Man's Man (1929) The Great Gabbo (1929)
1930s	Once a Gentleman (1930) She Got What She Wanted (1930) Salvation Nell (1931) Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932) If I Had a Million (segment "Death Cell", 1932) Racetrack (1933) Sailor Be Good (1933) I Cover the Waterfront (1933) Mr. Skitch (1933) David Harum (1934) Their Big Moment (1934) Helldorado (1934) Two-Fisted (1935) Sutter's Gold (1936) The Wrong Road (1937) Prison Nurse (1938) Gangs of New York (1938) Come On, Leathernecks! (1938)

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